Heaters

[Lastdraft]

I always leave a couple of tube heaters and a small oil filled radiator on time switches throughout winter on my boat. I have no idea how effective they are, so my question is, how many heaters and what wattage should they be to effectively keep the temperature above freezing on a 31 foot boat ?

I am hoping one of the forum ‘Boffins’ has a mathematical formula !!  or at least an idea of what others do ? Thanks 

[quo vadis]

T = E x £

Where T is desired temperature

E is electricity used

£ the variable / common denominator

Not much use but

[Lastdraft]

19 minutes ! love it, knew someone would come up with it 

[diesel falcon]

Tube heater times two.....

1 times rad heater......

x timer..................it flipping froze when the timer was off

[ExSurveyor]

Tube heaters and a flat panel heater on separate plug in thermostats. Engine bay set to come on below 2 degrees and the cabins below 5 degrees.

Dehumidifier on a timer between 10am and 3pm.

and,

Plenty of credit on the electric.

Worked well for 8 years. For an average winter on a 32 foot boat,  about 50 pounds.

[BroadAmbition]

Winter - Tube heaters switched on, thermostat set to +2c, so any higher  temp than that and the 2 x tubes located in the engine bay are switched off.  Each one only 80w.  No dehumidifiers / cabin heaters / tarpaulins or owt else for that matter.  Elec cost - Minimal and not really bothered if I'm honest, what price peace of mind?

Griff

[stumpy]

We are 27' - one 80w tube in the engine and water tank hole, one in the cabin. Both on thermostat plugs at 5°. Domestic water drained down. Minimum temperature in cabin last winter was 2°. Cost us less than £20 at Broadsedge prices has worked for 6 years. However in 2010 when the basin froze to at least 4 inches we didn't have electricity and just draining and blowing through the pipes worked. Hope this helps. 

[LondonRascal]

On Independence I was fortunate to inherit some tube heaters. I am lucky that I can close off and seal the engine room from the outside with large baffles and this alone has helped with heat retention not having cold air blowing through.  I then have a very large tube heater on the floor between the two engines on a timer to come on over night and to early morning - two smaller tube heaters in the accommodation one in aft cabin and one forward with all the doors left open.

 

 

[ExSurveyor]

These are worth fitting.

The heaters will only come on when the temperature drops to whatever it is set at. Could save a lot of wasted heat and will operate if the temperature drops during the day.

 

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F331236391983

[Guest]

I have fitted 2 small tube heaters to my engine bay, they have inbuilt thermostats and I have them set to come on around 2 degrees.

I'm really not sure if its all just a placebo effect though, in reality its only a sustained period of below freezing temps that could cause damage and if that happened I would not want to rely on heaters and would instead fill the raw water side with antifreeze and stick a duvet over the engine.

In the cabin I stick a few crystal moisture traps, but its a very dry boat with good ventilation (some of it unintentional via the sliding roof )  so they don't collect much

[StillCruising]

In the winters of 2009 and 2010 I left a data logger on the boat at Broadsedge over the winter. In 2009 it was on the table in the saloon and in 2012 it was sitting in the engine. The winter of 2009 was pretty cold and the temperature on the table dropped below zero several times. If you remember 2010 was a particularly hard winter but as you can see the temperature on the engine only dropped below zero on two short occasions. For winterising we always empty the water tank, disconnect the pipes from the pump and leave all the taps open, have the holding pumped out check the gravity of the engine antifreeze. With the seacock closed pour a strong mix of antifreeze into the weed filter with the engine running till some appears at the exhaust.  We do this every year and have never had any problems.

Regards

Bob

Temp Scans Winters 2009 & 2010.doc